Putin to me: Russian-Chinese military cooperation is good
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu on the military cooperation between the two countries. TASS agency reports. Our defense ministries are working actively. Putin said that we regularly exchange useful information, cooperate in the military-technical field, conduct joint exercises in various theaters of operations: whether in the Far East, in Europe, at sea, on land or in the air. dynamically in all sectors, in the economy, in the cultural sphere, in education.
Putin meets with Chinese Defense Minister Li Changfu
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese Defense Minister Li Changfu. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, citing the Russian state agency TASS. “Putin held a working meeting with Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Li Shangfu,” Peskov said, adding that more details would follow.
Prigozhin: I ordered the release of Ukrainian prisoners on Easter
The head of Wagner’s private militia Yevgeny Prigozhin said he personally ordered the release of a group of Ukrainian prisoners of war on Easter: a video released by his press service shows him giving the order to release them. This was reported by the Russian state news agency Interfax. “Prepare all the prisoners, feed them and drink them, examine the wounded and see the doctors. We must make sure that they leave for the region by noon, ”Prigozhin told the Wagner soldier in the video. In total, 130 Ukrainian soldiers captured in Bakhmut, Solidar, Zaporizhia, Kherson were released.
Wagner’s militia pushes the Ukrainians back from Bakhmut
The Wagner paramilitary group is fighting for control of the main railway junction in Bakhmut (Artemovsk in Russian) in the western part of the city, a source in the special militia told RIA Novosti. The Ukrainians have moved towards the railway. They back off. They are running and we are catching up with them. He said the city is almost under our control. According to the source of the official Russian News Agency, Central Bakhmut was already occupied by the Kremlin army.
12 dead in Slovensk
The death toll from the Russian attack on an apartment building in Sloviansk, Donetsk region has risen to 12: the body of a man was recovered from the rubble of a building destroyed by a missile on 14 April. This was reported by Ukrinform, citing the State Emergency Service. “The work is underway. According to the police, there may be three more people under the rubble. The wounded are 22.” Two days ago in the afternoon, the Kremlin army attacked Sloviansk with S-300 missiles, hitting several residential complexes.
Rocket destroys St. Michael’s Church in Zaporozhye
S-300 missiles fired by the Russian military overnight destroyed the Ukrainian Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Kuchum, Zaporozhye region. This was reported by the Ukrinform correspondent. “During the night, a Russian missile hit the Church of St. Michael the Archangel from 1906. At that time there was no function and no blessing of Easter food in the church, which is usually very crowded on Easter night,” said the church’s rector. Society, Yuri Karapetyan. “It was ordered not to hold the night services because of the threat of a missile attack,” said Rev. Volodymyr.
Zelensky: More than 50 buildings were damaged in Sloviansk
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “more than 50 residential buildings were damaged and destroyed in Sloviansk, Donetsk region, as a result of the Russian attack.” This was reported by UNIAN, citing the usual evening video message from the Ukrainian leader. . “The search operation is still going on in Sloviansk Donbass after yesterday’s Russian missile attack,” Zelensky said. There is information that there are still bodies under the rubble of the buildings.” According to Zelensky, “none of the perpetrators of this aggression can be forgiven.”
Two teenagers died in southern Ukraine
Two young men were killed during a night Russian bombing of Snigirevsky, in the Mykolaiv region, in southern Ukraine: RBC-Ukraine reports, citing regional military commander Vitaly Kim. The two dead men were both 18 years old. Kim added that ten explosions were counted: two schools, a hospital and some housing units were damaged. Snigirevsky is released on November 10, 2022.
Bombs over Zaporizhzhia damage the church
Russian forces bombed the Zaporizhia region last night. This was announced by the district governor Yuri Malashko. In detail, a church in the Komyshuvakha settlement in Zaporizhzhia was damaged, as well as nearby buildings. A forested area was also affected. Emergency services operate on site. There is currently no information about human or material losses.
Donetsk, one killed, two wounded
The outcome of the bombing that occurred at night in the center of Donetsk, in particular near the Transfiguration Cathedral, was killed and two wounded. This was reported by TASS, citing the administration of the Voroshilov district of the city, which is ruled by pro-Russian forces. At the time of the rocket explosion, an Orthodox Easter vigil was taking place in the religious building.
Rockets in the center of Donetsk near the cathedral
20 missiles were launched at night in the center of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. This was reported by TASS, citing the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR). These are projectiles from multiple launch rocket systems that exploded during the Orthodox Easter vigil. Eyewitnesses reported that there was smoke near the cathedral where religious ceremonies were being held. The bombing took place at 3:25 am on Sunday, Moscow time, from positions near the settlement of Ocheretin.
The bombing was very intense. Smoke can be seen near the cathedral, where the Easter vigil was taking place at the time,” said the administration of Donetsk’s Voroshilovskiy district, adding that the missile launch injured at least one person.
The Ukrainian War, live today, Sunday, April 16th. Yevgeny Prigozhin shuffles the cards again, making a surprising appeal to Vladimir Putin: stop the invasion of Ukraine, consolidate Russian positions in the already occupied territories. Otherwise, there is a risk that the enemy will gain the upper hand, taking advantage of the exhaustion of the Moscow forces. The exit of the oligarchy, in eternal conflict with the Russian military leaders over the management of the conflict, according to American analysts at ISW, has a specific goal: to create conditions for exploiting a possible failure of the army if the expected counterattack in Kiev will be successful. Gaining consensus at home to benefit from the political level.
Chief Wagner, a friend of the Czar but for some time sitting in positions considered too extreme even in the Kremlin, in a long article circulating on Telegram takes stock of the first 14 months of the war, in which the Ukrainians’ defense proved harder than expected. In light of the continuing hardships of Russian soldiers, according to ‘Putin’s chef’, “it is necessary for the authorities and society as a whole to put a definitive end to the special military operation”. In fact, the “ideal option” is precisely to “announce its end” and “inform everyone that the planned results have been achieved, that we have already achieved them,” Prigozhin writes. He states that “a significant part of the working male population of Ukraine” has been uprooted and that “a large part of the Ukrainian territory has been conquered, creating a land corridor towards Crimea”. The capture of Bakhmut would help achieve these successes. This could be “very useful” because it “will limit the Ukrainian maneuvers,” explained the founder of Wagner, who leads the front line in this battle with his private militia, and who in the past few hours has taken control of two other neighborhoods of the town of Donbass, where the Ukrainians seem to be on the verge of to give in.
Therefore, at this stage, “there is only one thing left to do: to take root firmly in the occupied territories,” is the strategy proposed by Prigozhin. Otherwise, continuing to invade could have very high costs, if not even backfire, he warned, projecting the usual anti-“elite” rhetoric in Moscow, which pleads in favor of the Kremlin: a “deep state” of “bureaucrats.” “. Who want to “sabotage Russia’s success in the war to return to their privileged and comfortable lives.” “Internal enemies,” who in order to end the conflict will push the Kremlin to “make serious concessions” to Ukraine, also in terms of territory. Then there are the difficulties of the military, which He “considered himself for years as one of the best players in the world”, who instead, in the event of a Ukrainian counterattack, could indulge in “a deteriorating mood”, destined to make “worse” the situation on the ground. Prigozhin’s plea to halt the invasion sounds, For now, in stark contrast to plans many analysts attribute to the Kremlin, any struggle is still a long way in. Just think of the law Putin just signed mandating electronic conscription for the military, to prevent citizens from escaping the draft. Just two weeks ago one of his aides, the ultra-nationalist journalist Vladlen Tatarsky, launched a controversial attack in St. Petersburg – apparently intended simply to take credit as a lonely bet on the Russian people weary of endless war, which could be instrumental in later. Indeed, it has long been believed that Prigozhin had political ambitions and aimed to control a party, Just Russia, from Social Democratic inspiration. With the aim of trying to climb to the top of the country.
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